Pakistan on Thursday abolished the long-standing facility of on arrival visas for Afghan nationals.
According to the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) immigration wing, the move comes due to increased security risks emanating from the western border.
FIA Immigration Director Ismatullah Junejo told that Afghan nationals were being granted a 30-day visa on arrival at entry points. As the new policy comes into effect, they will be required to apply for a visa from Pakistani missions in Afghanistan.
Once issued a visa, the Afghan nationals will be allowed entry into Pakistan. Upon entry, they will be asked to fill out details including the time period and place of stay. The details, in Form C, will be forwarded to security agencies for verification.
Earlier, Afghan nationals holding Afghan passports, living in Pakistan were allowed visa extension for a period of six months with one re-entry allowed. As Directorate General of Immigration and Passports website reads: “Afghan origin/third country passports holders are initially granted 45-days visa by our missions abroad except Pakistan Mission in Afghanistan. They are allowed a further extension for 45-days.”
Immigration officials told that a total of 24 countries were now given on-arrival visa facility. These include Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Belgium, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Norway, New Zealand, United States, United Kingdom, Thailand, Spain and Singapore.
“Afghans whose children have been raised and born in Pakistan will be granted citizenship InshAllah (God willing) because this is the established practice in countries around the world,” the premier had said. “They are humans. How come we have deprived them and have not arranged for offering them national identification card and passport for 30 years, 40 years?”
Pakistan has the largest refugee population in the world, according to the United Nations. The refugees mostly comprise of the 2.7 million Afghan nationals who fled their native country due to war, violence and ensuing economic turmoil. The UN surveys estimate that 60 per cent of the Afghan refugee population is Pakistan-born.
PM Imran Khan’s iteration to grant Afghan refugees living inside Pakistan has been received with concerns by opposition. PPP leader Taj Haider earlier cast doubt on why the PM was adamant in granting citizenship to 1.5 million refugees. He lashed out at PM saying the move was a political one to increase the vote bank.
Published in Daily Times, January 4th 2019.
